Medication containers sealed by stoppers adapted to be pierced by hypodermic needles or sharp spikes to permit access to the medication in the container are well known in the art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,921 describes a closure arrangement for pharmaceutical bottles containing a stopper closing the bottle mouth and a closure cap mounted over the bottle mouth. The stopper is adapted to be pierced with a hollow needle. The closure cap is provided with a tear-off disc which is above the stopper and is removable upon opening the closure. The tear-off disc is produced from plastic material in one piece with the closure cap and is retained by means of a weakening line. When the closure cap is pressed in the direction toward the bottle, the tear-off disc is separated from the closure cap and the stopper is free for insertion of a hollow needle. However, this stopper is not intended to be used in conjunction with a luer fitting.
In order to avoid problems associated with the handling of sharp needles and spikes, medication containers have been provided with stoppers which can be ruptured by the luer fitting or nozzle of a conventional hypodermic syringe. After the nozzle penetrates the stopper in the medication container, medication can be loaded into the syringe. Thereafter, the syringe can be connected to a safe needleless port for direct intravenous injections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,812 describes a medication container stopper which can be punctured by the luer nozzle of a hypodermic syringe. The stopper is not intended to be punctured with a needle cannula. However, a significant problem with rupturable containers of this type, regardless of whether they are designed for use with spikes or luer fittings, is that particulates generated by the rupturing process are directed into the container, often providing a source of unacceptable contamination.
It would be desirable to provide a stopper for a medication container, which stopper can be used in conjunction with both needles and luer nozzle fittings. Further, it would be particularly advantageous to provide a stopper which reduces the risk of particulate contamination when the stopper is ruptured by a luer nozzle.